Venue/Date: Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia, 1 May 2010.India won toss and elected to fieldT20 debut: Murali Vijay (India)Player of the match Ashish Nehra Result: India won by 2 wkts. India cruised to an easy seven wicket win against Afghanistan at St Lucia in their ICC World T20 opener on Saturday. Chasing a modest total (116), the champions of the inaugural edition romped home with 31 balls to spare. India began on an aggressive note, Murali Vijay a boundary over mid-off followed by a maximum over deep midwicket off Dawlat Ahmadzai's first over. However, the bowler struck in his second over, having Gautam Gambhir (4) caught by Mohammad Nabi at cover point. Shapoor Zadran was miserly in his first couple of overs, giving away just six runs. Despite losing Gautam Gambhir early, Raina and Murali Vijay have kept the scoreboard ticking along at a good pace in pursuit of a victory. Samiullah Shenwari trapped Suresh Raina in front of the wickets to give Afghanistan more reason to cheer in their opening encounter against India. Vijay has carried on from where he left in the IPL while Yuvraj Singh seems like getting back to some kind of touch with India nicely placed for a win against Afghanistan. The Vijay-Yuvraj partnership then took over the proceedings, with the former hitting successive sixes over long-off off Nabi. Hamid Hassan got Murali Vijay to hole out to Shapoor Zadran in the deep after the opener cracked 48 to help India land on the door-steps of an easy win. In came captain MS Dhoni (15 not out) and he ensured an early end, smashing successive sixes off his Afghanistan counterpart Nowroz Mangal. Earlier, batting first Afghanistan were able to make 115 for eight. Ashish Nehra picked up three wickets and Praveen Kumar pocketed two as Afghanistan found themselves all at sea against India at St Lucia. That's the first one down for Afghanistan. Karim Sadiq tried to pull one away from Nehra but ended up gloving it to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Mohammad Shehzad goes and Nehra gets his second wicket. The ball seemed to brush past the helmet on its way to Dhoni but India will take … [Read more...]
T20 World Cup preview: Pakistan Vs Bangladesh
Bangladesh and Pakistan meet in T20 World Cup Group-A match at the Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Saturday. Pakistan have endured a typically nightmarish year since they lifted this trophy, but have a chance to redeem themselves in the Caribbean. Venue and conditions: We can expect the pitch at the Beausejour Stadium to conform to the recent Caribbean trend for dry, slow spin-friendly wickets. There is also a possibility of meteorological intervention with thunder showers common in St Lucia at this time of year. Trivia: Pakistan have won 73% of their Twenty20 matches, a higher percentage than any other country Team News: Bangladesh: Bangladesh toured the Caribbean last year so will be very familiar with the conditions. They won all 3 ODI’s against a very weak West Indies side who were missing all their star players due to an internal dispute but worryingly, they did lose the only T20 on that particular tour. The excellent Shakib Al Hasan skippers the side and the squad is still a very young one with the majority of their players aged 25 and under. Tamim Iqbal is a key man at the top of the order, on his day he can score extremely quickly but needs to add consistency to harness his undoubted talent. Mashrafe Mortaza will spearhead their attack, but it remains to be seen whether the Tigers pick their other quick Rubel Hossain or pack their bowling attack with spinners.They have plenty of slow bowling options which will no doubt be called upon in double quick time if the pace bowlers prove expensive. After losing to Ireland in the first group stage in last year’s tournament, it is hard to be confident of their chances but the overall trend in performance level of Bangladesh shows promise and they could be dangerous opponents if Pakistan gives them a sniff. Pakistan: Pakistan have to defend their crown and this will be their first major test since the upheaval of changing captains and the suspensions dished out to senior players last year. Younis Khan is gone and Boom Boom Afridi takes over as skipper.Abdul … [Read more...]
